First Things RSS Feed - Jeffrey Burton Russell https://www.firstthings.com/author/jeffrey-burton-russell en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:56:38 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/jeffrey-burton-russell 60 The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/the-book-of-heaven-an-anthology-of-writings-from-ancient-to-modern-times https://www.firstthings.com/article/2000/12/the-book-of-heaven-an-anthology-of-writings-from-ancient-to-modern-times Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 -0500 Heaven is not simply a theological, literary, or artistic phenomenon. It is experiential: in moments of play, of love, of passion, of unity, of selfless giving, of freedom, of being moved by music or art, in our urge to compassion, to surrendering”in all these we sense heaven. Occasionally a joy seizes us by surprise. Once, walking in the Sierra Nevada, I encountered a bush in the midst of which was blooming a Mariposa Lily, an unusual and most beautiful mountain wildflower. It was encased by a web in the form of an almost perfect sphere, and from all over the sphere small drops of dew caught the sunlight. I stood astonished. Christian though I am, what came immediately to mind was the Buddhist exultation: “Hail Thou Jewel in the Lotus.” I was often overtaken by a similar joy while immersed in the pages of The Book of Heaven .

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]]> Getting Satan Behind Us https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/11/getting-satan-behind-us https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/11/getting-satan-behind-us Wed, 01 Nov 1995 00:00:00 -0500 The Origin Of Satan
 By Elaine Pagels
Random House, 214 pages, $23

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